


midnight

by inexhaustible



Series: indounaru works [2]
Category: DAYS (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Cuddling, Gen, Nightmares, Pre-Canon, unapologetic fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 11:08:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9721511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inexhaustible/pseuds/inexhaustible
Summary: indou has a nightmare.– inspired shamelessly by the panel where these two are sleeping together in the same futon.





	

**Author's Note:**

> find me @iindou on tumblr!  
> this is set some time during their first year at saku.

It’s the talking that wakes Shuuji up.

Initially, Shuuji brushes the sounds off, shivering at the cool air and pulling the covers over himself, leaning minutely into Kaoru’s warmth gratefully. They’re sprawled out on Shuuji’s too-small futon, Kaoru taking up an obscene amount of space and leaving Shuuji with futile attempts at marking out some semblance of leg room.

“Wait,” Kaoru says, and Shuuji glances up, shifting to look at him, but Kaoru’s eyes are still closed, brows drawn tight, face shuttered.  _Is he talking in his sleep?_

“Don’t,” Kaoru murmurs, and Shuuji draws back, noticing the tension in his shoulders, his neck, the small twitches of his fingers where they lie wooden at his sides.  _A nightmare?_

“Don’t go,” he says, voice pained, and Shuuji feels something twist in his chest – it makes him wonder, momentarily, how much he still doesn’t know about Kaoru’s past. He reaches out, pausing before his hand touches Kaoru’s bare shoulder, hesitant. When Kaoru flinches, breath shuddering out of him in a flood of air, Shuuji tightens his grip, shaking.

“Kaoru,” Shuuji calls, frowning down at him. When Kaoru stirs but doesn’t respond, Shuuji tries again, louder. “Kaoru!”

Kaoru hums lowly in acknowledgement, blinking an eye open to peer at Shuuji, almost eerily feline. 

“Shuuji?” he mumbles, confused. His voice is hoarse, pitched low and sleep-slurred. “What’s wrong?”

“You were having a nightmare,” Shuuji says, breathing out a sigh and slapping Kaoru lightly on the shoulder. “And you were talking in your sleep. It woke me up, idiot.”

“H-how is that my fault?” Kaoru huffs indignantly.

Shuuji shakes his head, exasperation and a strange, quiet fondness bubbling up in equal measures. “Do you remember it?”

There’s a beat of silence before Kaoru tips his head, turning to look down at Shuuji.

“Yeah,” he says, finally, tension bleeding out of him in slow breaths, and Shuuji doesn’t push it, doesn’t ask – because he might not know Kaoru’s past, not really, not completely, but they  _click_ , somehow, both on and off the field, and Shuuji knows what lines he can and can’t push. Outside, the sounds of the night seem to go silent, leaving them alone with their thoughts. Kaoru swipes a hand roughly over his face, and Shuuji huddles into himself a little bit, feeling goosebumps rise on his skin. 

“S’cold,” Shuuji grumbles, and that’s a good enough excuse. He rolls closer, onto his side, until he’s practically using Kaoru’s chest as a pillow, heat emanating from his skin like a furnace. Kaoru gives him a lazy, amused look before shifting to let Shuuji lean against him, throwing an arm casually around Shuuji’s shoulder to pull him closer. Shuuji flushes, because they’re basically cuddling, at this point – and it’s not as if they haven’t been closer than this before, but there’s something different about the way it feels tonight, something in the way Kaoru breathes unsteadily, hand tracing absent patterns against Shuuji’s back.

 _Who’s he trying to reassure?_  Shuuji wonders,  _Me or him?_

It’s a question Shuuji thinks he knows the answer to, so he doesn’t say anything, feeling the warmth of Kaoru’s hand through the thin shirt he’s wearing. 

“Thanks,” Kaoru says, after a while, unsure, and Shuuji rolls his eyes.

“Go back to sleep,” Shuuji whispers, and Kaoru nods, tilting so that his chin rests softly against the top of Shuuji’s head. 

Shuuji falls asleep to the sound of Kaoru’s heartbeat, slow and thrumming inexorably underneath his skin, like the roar of the crowd on the pitch.


End file.
